Chapter 05: Dealing with Authority

“Force does not constitute right… obedience is due only to legitimate powers.”—Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“I’ve never liked you much,” Nan said in her acerbic tone. “You’re just so goddamned arrogant.”

“I don’t care much for you either,” Eric said honestly, even as he cradled Sookie in his arms and held her close.

Nan chuckled. “And that’s why I like you. You don’t dish out any bullshit, like that insipid Compton.”

“But you just said that you didn’t like me,” Eric reminded with a smirk.

“Well—that’s where we’re different. I do dish out bullshit—all the fuckin’ time. I’m good at it.”

“Yes,” Eric agreed, “you are—good at the bullshit.”

Eric narrowed his eyes and examined Nan carefully. She’d won points in his book by making sure that Eric and Sookie (though Sookie didn’t know the difference) were comfortable in the limousine Nan had come in.

And, even better, only Nan was riding with them in the back of the limo, and only one other individual—a Were driver—was in the vehicle. Compton had been unceremoniously shoved into the back of a black van—still wrapped in silver—and he was surrounded by “storm troopers.”

Nan didn’t seem concerned by Eric’s study of her. With reluctance, he had to give her some credit: the bitch was unapologetic for her actions.

She shrugged. “To tell you the truth—I don’t want to be your enemy, Mr. Northman. I think you could be useful to the Authority—to the Guardian. And there are rumblings that he might need help sooner rather than later. You are strong and well-respected among our kind—and you don’t suffer from your maker’s guilty conscience.”

Eric growled at that.

“Don’t get your panties in a wad, Viking,” Nan sighed. “I’m not saying anything that’s not the truth. Godric had been flailing for years—and you know it.”

Eric growled again.

Nan put up her hand in a conciliatory motion. “You can’t deny anything I’ve said. And I’m sorry about that—even if you don’t believe that’s true. I’d known Godric for centuries. Hell—three decades ago, I offered him the kingship of Texas, but he turned me down. If you asked me to name the five vampires I’ve respected most in my long life, your maker would be one of them.” She scoffed. “At least, he would have been. But he stopped being a vampire. You and I both know that. He would have let those Fellowship bastards hang him on a cross and burn him in the dawn’s light! And for what purpose?”

“I don’t know,” Eric admitted with a whispered growl.

“I don’t either,” Nan said, her own voice softening. “But I’ve seen similar things happen to others—my own maker included.”

Eric’s eyebrows rose in question.

“That’s right, Sheriff. I, too, lost my maker to despair and guilt. He was twelve hundred years old when he did it.” She paused for a moment. “Nathaniel was the most important being in my existence, and, for many years, I felt like it was somehow my fault—like I should have done something to save him.” She paused again. “But he had lived his fill—and one day, he stopped finding new reasons to keep going. For a long time, I was one of his reasons, but I suppose his soul wore out—even though his body never would have.”

“He met the sun?” Eric asked.

“No. He asked me to stake him,” Nan said. “He told me that—after so long—he was too afraid of the sun to meet it.” Her tone turned almost hollow. “And I’d never known him to fear anything.” She paused again—this time for several minutes.

“So you staked him?” Eric asked.

“Of course I did,” Nan returned as if the question had been unnecessary. “I loved him. I would have done anything to make him happy—even though it tore me apart to do it.”

Eric nodded, suddenly understanding and respecting Nan a lot more than he had earlier that night. She had a job to do. And her job gave her purpose. All vampires needed one.

Perhaps, now that Sookie’s secret could no longer be contained, he would try to stop Nora from killing Nan.

“She didn’t want this life,” he said, holding Sookie’s corpse even closer to his own un-beating heart.

“I know. I heard her. And I’m sorry I had to do what I did.”

Eric studied the vampiress across from him. “I believe you. But why did you do it?”

“The Guardian, Roman, took me under his wing when I was about 300 years old—right after Nathaniel chose to leave this world. And he is being threatened by a rather insane faction.”

Eric nodded. “And you wanted to use Sookie.”

“Yes. And you—as well. When Compton called me tonight, I was already back in the area. Roman was impressed that you could handle Edgington—even if you didn’t kill him.” Her own gaze was narrow in study, but Eric gave nothing away.

“Sookie will fight against what I’ve made her,” he said, looking down at his new child. “She will attempt to kill herself.”

“You could stop her—give her something to live for. I heard her tell you that she loved you,” Nan said.

“But—once she realizes that I turned her against her will—she will no longer trust me. And love is nothing without trust.”

Nan sat forward. “You love her too; you trust her.”

“Yes,” Eric responded. “That is why I do not want to force her to stay in this life—this un-death.”

Nan sighed. “I took a great chance letting you live and allowing you to complete her turning. And I do believe that you are her maker, but I smell Compton in her too.”

“I know,” Eric admitted.

Nan sighed. “You know as well as I do that most of us weren’t given a choice when we were turned.”

“Were you?” Eric asked.

“Yes—yes, I was,” Nan responded.

“Me too.”

“Then this must be doubly difficult for you,” Nan stated perceptively. “You love her and wanted to respect her wishes. And you believe in choice.”

Eric nodded. “But you took away my choice—and hers,” he said pointedly.

“I am no simpleton,” Nan sighed. “Miss Stackhouse is obviously a fairy—I’d say a fourth or an eighth. And I’m perceptive enough to know that she’s either a psychic or a telepath, too.”

“How many know your theory?” Eric asked.

“I’m loyal to Roman, and I told him, so everyone he trusts is aware or will soon be made aware.”

Eric nodded with understanding. “So it was already too late to keep Sookie’s nature a secret—even before tonight,” he whispered.

“Yes,” Nan responded. “Bill called me earlier, and I figured that you and/or Compton might try to kill me in order to protect the girl. That’s why I came with such a large force. And there was additional back-up available to me too. If I had been killed, another team would have been right behind me.”

“Sookie is a telepath—or at least she was,” Eric said after a few moments.

Nan nodded in acknowledgement. “A rare gift.”

“Sookie always thought of her telepathy as a curse,” Eric said, tenderly soothing his child’s matted and bloody hair. It was still soft and beautiful to his fingers.

“If she had no guidance as she grew up, I’m not surprised,” Nan said. “Look—Eric—I’m not a heartless bitch.”

The Viking looked at her skeptically.

She smirked. “Okay. Maybe I am, but not in situations like this. With your cooperation, we’ll see what she can do once she rises. Perhaps, she will be free of her curse. Or—perhaps—it will be stronger. It is hard to know.” Nan paused. “There have been other especially gifted vampires. And they are treated very well—and protected. Roman is not cruel. He’s an asshole, but he’s not cruel.”

“She’s going to hate me,” Eric sighed.

“Yes,” Nan agreed. “And—if my instincts are right—you are going to let her hate you. And, because of that, I’ll bet that she will come to love you again sooner rather than later. Bill, on the other hand, will try to make her love him. He might even try to compel her to do so—if he is, indeed, a co-maker to her. And she will end up despising him for it.”

Eric narrowed his eyes as the van screeched to a halt in front of a warehouse on the waterfront in Port Arthur, Texas, which was—ironically—closer to Shreveport than New Orleans. However, it was well out of Louisiana territory.

Because of Nora, Eric knew it was one of the headquarters of the Authority, which rotated its location intermittently.

Nan leaned forward. “Give me one month,” she said. “In that time, your new child might come to embrace being one of us, and she might find a place well-suited for her in the employ of the Authority. You, too, might find a place with us.”

“What of my duties as sheriff?”

Nan smirked. “You and I are both well-aware that you never wanted to be a sheriff. But—it was either that, or the Yakuza were going to kill you.”

Eric growled a little. “I should have killed you back then—after the Yakuza killed Sylvie.”

Nan sighed. “I tried to warn you—as soon as I heard the rumblings against you among those developing synthetic blood. It is not my fault that you were too arrogant to listen!” the vampiress said defiantly. “You can blame me all you want for ‘your’ Sylvie’s death, but I didn’t have to come to you in France. I was under no obligation to warn you or to give you a chance to change your behavior.”

“Why did you? I’d stayed out of the power structure until then. You had no vested interested in me. Why did you come?”

“I already told you,” Nan said.

Eric paused and then nodded with understanding. “Godric.”

Nan nodded back. “Yes. Listen. From what I’ve picked up on, your new child is a hundred times more worthy than the French girl was—though she was very beautiful.” The vampiress nodded toward Sookie. “In the Fellowship church and in Godric’s nest, Miss Stackhouse helped to save lives.”

“I thought you cared only for vampires’ image,” Eric intoned.

“That is my top priority. It has to be. I tread a fine line every day, Sheriff. I have to be human enough to take on the likes of Steve Newlin on national television and vampire enough to keep those of our kind from going on bloody rampages a la Russell Edgington. But—make no mistake—Miss Stackhouse impressed me when she was mostly human, and I have a feeling I’ll be even more impressed with her as a vampire.”

“Me too,” Eric said.

“One month,” Nan reiterated. “Convince Sookie to give this life a try for that long. After that, if she wants to go outside for a suntan, we won’t stop her. And I know that you would let her. But I want to see what she might do—what she might be. Don’t’ you want to see that as well?”

“One month,” Eric whispered. “Are you sure your ‘boss’ will agree to what you are proposing?”

“Exactly that kind,” Nan chuckled, as she opened the limo door and stepped out.

A/N: Hello all! Thanks for the continued response to this story! Many of you have had strong reactions to it, and I love eliciting those! Most of you like the avenue that I’m exploring. However, many of you have expressed wishes that Bill won’t be Sookie’s maker and others are a little wary of the co-maker idea—and that’s okay because even if you don’t like everything I’m doing, 99.9% of you are expressing your opinions and reactions constructively, respectfully, and NOT anonymously.

Please remember that I’m not a paid author, but—even if I was—no author writes a story that everyone likes. If this isn’t your particular flavor of story, please be so kind as to “call it a day” and don’t misuse the “guest” review option on ff. net just to insult me, my intellect, or my stories. It is your right to dislike my stories and to stop reading them. Should you choose to make that dislike known, you should sign in and offer your critique in a respectful manner. (Sorry for the little rant, but I woke up to a very long and rambling performance of idiocy–anonymous, of course. Apparently, I’m a “hack” and a “rotted c+nt.” Who knew? I hope I can keep at least the latter piece of information from the hubby. LOL! Of course, the message went into the trash–where it belongs!)

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34 thoughts on “Chapter 05: Dealing with Authority”

I doubt we will ever understand the logic of leaving hateful messages instead of simply not reading something you don’t like. Oh well.

I was surprised that Nan of all people, voiced what I, and probably other readers, was thinking about Eric and Bill being Sookie’s co-makers. Eric will back off a bit, he has showed that he will if thats what she wants in TB, but Bill not so much. My only hope is that Bill doesn’t make it too difficult for her as she starts this new part of her life.

I am addicted to this story! I’ve never read a co-maker story before and I like the idea and the way you are exploring it very much. This would have made a much better season 5–and you’re actually making me like Nan! I’m looking forward to Sookie waking up vampire. I just feel sorry for Eric and hope she doesn’t take more out on him than on Bill–after all, she did hear Eric trying to respect her wishes. I can’t wait for more!

You know kat how you have described Nan in this chapter made her less cold hearted…maybe she’ll grow on me,who knows? ! According to my point of view people who leave awful reviews are to be ignored..if you don’t like the story don’t read it…let the author express her/his emotions right!?.These stories are not for money they are written for fun ! I appreciate writers like you Kat who take their FREE TIME to write a story to amuse us Eric/Sookie shippers since CH nor TB DID NOT gave a happy ending to our favourite couple…You ‘re great … Returning to the story hopefully Sookie will be able to accept her new condition.Take care.

Thanks. I agree w/ you about anon reviewers. They’re just silly and sad.
As for Sookie–well–you know her. How could her initial reaction be anything but “wrong?” However, she usually sees the light (at least in my mind).
As for Nan–imagine my surprise when I went from despising her to wanting to like her when writing this chapter? LOL. I decided to try to see if I could make her “likable” even as I kept her the hard-nosed Bitch we love to hate. I figured that she had her reasons. She started to remind me of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. LOL.

Wow, you’ve made Nan almost likeable here. That’s quite the feat!
As for the cowardly anon reviews feic them! By all means give constructive criticism if you dislike something but to call you a hack and a C*** is unacceptable. You shouldn’t have to deal with that sort of nonsense.

As long as ff.net allows it, there’s little to do except put the trash into the trash can. Those kinds of things used to really hurt me. I took them seriously, but then I realized that the people writing them were bullies who probably wanted to make others miserable in order to impose some kind of sense of power they cannot get through other means. So I stopped letting them have any power over me, and I certainly won’t allow their nonsense to post. At least ff.net gives authors the power to moderate anon reviews. Otherwise, I wouldn’t post there anymore.

I think I could learn to like Nan. The main reason being her relationship with Godric, second her opinions of Eric, and third her intense dislike of bill. Hopefully Eric can get in touch with Nora before she ends her. I am bracing for the storm when Sookie rises a vampire and blames Eric for everything. I can only hope that she sorts through it all in a sooner than later time frame. The whole co-maker thing has me felling a bit edgy about what will happen however, it is definitely preferable to bill being her only maker, if it can’t be just Eric. I am also curious to see Pam’s reaction to having Sookie as her new sister. I think she should have the opportunity to take it out on bill. Looking forward to more chapters!!

you know I for one love this story, even with my snarky commentary when i Beta… anon reviews will always suck but in the words of EIM, read them, laugh at them and then deposit them in the trash folder, use them for criticism if you can but move on. I for one will continue to read your stories even if Nan is growing on me, it’s weird but she moved up in the ranks of this story to me and i just realized her maker’s name was so close to her own. anyway loved the chapter and the heart felt talk. KY

you are a very talented hack! I love your stories. now, I hate bill with a passion but I can understand you using him in this story. I hope you made sookie unresponsive to him when she rises, and eric too for that matter. if she could defy both of them that would be awesome! stubborn to the bitter end. but I so hope that eric is her daddy!!! ❤

As I have read elsewhere, and am paraphrasing, Anon reviewers can suck the fun out of chocolate. *shrug* Some people just aren’t happy unless they’ve got something to b*tch about.
When I saw Nan’s reactions on TV I didn’t particularly like her BUT I realized that’s what TB meant for us to feel towards her since they didn’t give us any of her back story or insights other than the hard nosed bitch the vampires knew and the advocate humans saw. Lord knows I would have rather seen some of her story than the drivel they force fed us over the years (I did take your advice, and several other commenters, and stopped watching once they totally twisted everything around so this version of season 5 is new to me much like any other version of season 5 is).
Any way, this story…I’ve been addicted to vampire Sookie stories for a good long while and I was pleased, if a lot surprised and upset that you were writing ANOTHER story when I was getting so little of Uncharted! lol
Predictions: Sookie WILL be pissed, extremely.
Eric will back off as much as he can without endangering himself, Sookie or anyone else in the vicinity and ask her to give him the month Nan has asked for, even going so far as to place a command to the effect that she can’t harm herself, him or have anyone else attempt it.
Bill will try to force her affections much as he did when she was still breathing only she will be able to recognize those attempts as what they are: blatant attempts at gaining her affection and trying to turn her away from Eric.
Her fairy powers will come into play somehow AND she will be able to hear vampires much like she used to hear weres only she will have better control of her telepathy once she takes the time to examine everything.
The fairy who was watching…Claude maybe?
I have other thoughts as well about Jess, Pam, Tara, etc. (Thank you for NOT turning Tara BTW that was one of the WORST decisions TB made as far as I’m concerned) but this review has gotten long enough and I do tend to ramble, lol.

Well you actually made Nan a rather likable bitch 🙂 More insight into who she is and how she and Eric have had parallel experiences with their makers. The beginnings of a “friendship” so to speak?
Ah….what worries me about Bill and Eric being “co-makers” is that Sookie is going to be in a fragile mental state when she awakens. First, she didn’t want to be vampire and will probably want to end herself. And then, if she has two makers, she may get conflicting “commands” –if she can be commanded at all 🙂 that could tear her apart mentally. Not a good place to be. Hopefully age wins out when it comes to the blood, and while it’s annoying Sookie has Compton’s blood, it won’t be overwhelming…..
Love this story!
Pat

We’ll Kat you hit another one out of the park! I am glad to see this fandom continue and the characters we love are being done justice. While Bill always reminded me of Herb Tarlek (WKRP) , or a used car salesmen in the books and TB, anyway you portray him is fine by me’). Keep up S/E pairing with your usual flare and style that we all love!

Even though I am one of thBill as a co-maker, only Eric, I can’t wait for her to wake and see what happens. Looking forward to the next chapter. I hope she doesn’t take it out on Eric that she was turned, since he didn’t have a choice. I haven’t read all of your stories but the ones I have read, really loved them.:)

I’m intrigued by Nan as you are writing her. She is much more nuanced and interesting than the TB writers made her. She seems to have a lot if insight into what Bill will do and how Sookie will react to it, as well as Eric.
As to the gutless wonders who hide behind “guest” and leave hateful reviews, anyone who is unwilling to identify themselves in a review should not be able to post them. I think the ff site made a major error when they changed the site rules and stopped writers from being able to block anonymous reviews. It’s easy to say ignore what they write, but not so easy to do.
You are a wonderful writer who continually creates new treats for the readers. I’m looking forward to the next chapter.

I can count myself among those that are wary of the whole co maker idea but only because I hate Bill so much and can’t stand to think of him using his power as Maker to manipulate Sookie!
I’m praying she wakes up and hears Eric out and realizes he really had no choice.

Nice twist from you, to make Nan likeable, with giving us a little of her background.Now I looking fooking forward of Sookies awakening. One tough month for Eric!
As for the anon idiots – trash belongs in the trash can!!!

Not for nothing….i hope she kills bill when he’d tries to manipulate her in any way…..i hope she can kill him cause hopefully his maker ability didn’t take to her like Erics did …. see ya next chapter 😉

You have such a way of writing a very unlikable character – Nan and making us see more of her and liking her just a little more than we did before — it is not just me as I can see in previous reviews that feel this way. I think Nan was spot on when she said that Sookie would love Eric again but hate Bill. So I think if they are going to be co-makers then this will be the best revenge on Bill. Looking forward to more. Just keep trashing those stupid nasty reviews– there are plenty of us that love you 🙂

Awesome chapter! I think that Bill is going to blow thing even more than he already has by, A) He was willing to force Sookie to be changed, even without his life being threatened. B) He is going to try to command Sookie to love him, come to him and be with him and she will hate him with every fiber of her being and going running as fast as she can to Eric. I can’t wait for more! Loving this!

A semi reasonable Nan. What a novel idea! Makes this a fascinating story. Thinking that Nan is right, Bill is going to do everything as part Maker of Sookie to convince her that he & only he loves her & that its all Eric’s fault that she is in this predicament. Looking forward to her reaction when she rises.

Oh I cannot wait until Sookie wakes! This is very interesting and since you have never done a vampire Sookie story I’m curious as to how you will work her personality once she’s turned. Great work! Looking forward to more.

Kat, I for one live your stories. I really hate that the writers have such uncalled for vicious remarks. It’s a story made up by the writer. If you don’t like it quit reading. I know there are always going to be assholes. I just wish they would all go live on the asshole planet together and leave us alone. Happy writing. B

why on earth would someone read this and leave a hateful comment? there is always another story to read. I never thought to see nan Flanagan so “human”, but you are right about bill. he will try to force her to be with him again.

yes, bill would force sookie not to meet the sun if he were her maker. he would also try to force her to stay away from eric , even knowing that she loves him. bill is a selfish asshat who is a terrible maker to Jessica and never should have been forced to turn her by the magister. I couldn’t understand in a.b.’s convoluted world how the authority, who were trying to mainstream vampires into society, could let him force someone to turn a seventeen year old girl when it was directly against their policy of turning people against their will.

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Many thanks to Seph, who is a wonderful friend and provides so much art to this site!Many thanks to my wonderful and generous Beta! I couldn't do it without you!from Hisviks, the patient owner of BEEHL the cat